Martina McBride

Martina McBride is an American country music singer, born in 1966. Since her debut album in 1992, she has released nine studio albums, of which seven are at least platinum-certified.

Martina comes from a musical family; she joined her father's band when she was young and gigged with other local bands after she left high school. Her career began when she moved to Nashville with her new husband, and began to work for Garth Brooks as his opening act after securing a recording contract with RCA Records. Her first album was The Time Has Come (1992), but she veered into poppier territory for her second The Way That I Am (1993), which spawned the crossover hit "Independence Day". A string of successful albums followed, punctuated with regular single success, but it was not until her ninth album Waking Up Laughing (2007) that a self-penned song, "Anyway", appeared.

Her fame in the country music world is assured, proved by the fact that she has won the Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year Award four times, and the Academy of Country Music's Female Vocalist of the Year Award three times.